Revocation - Existence Is Futile
Relapse Records
Technical Thrash / Death Metal
11 songs (47:21)
Release year: 2009
Revocation Myspace, Relapse Records
Reviewed by Kyle
Surprise of the month

Every few years or so, when the Thrash scene was at its peak (Hint: The 80’s), there would come along a new band that would provide a new spin on the genre by infusing Thrash and a primitive form of Technical Death Metal. The first of these was obviously Death with Scream Bloody Gore, as that album literally invented the Death Metal genre, which was soon followed by Rigor Mortis' and then Atheist’s collective debuts. Now that Thrash has seen a resurgence in the 21st century, there’s a new crop of bands that are pushing the genre to new, more extreme levels. Skeletonwitch has given us a moderately Blackened, slightly melodic take on Thrash, and Sylosis has spawned one of the most cohesive and aggressive forms of Melodeath-influenced Thrash I’ve heard. And now along comes Revocation, the latest group of young Thrashers attempting to climb their way to the top of this new batch of Extreme Thrash Metal; now that they’re released their second album Existence Is Futile on Relapse Records, this should be a very easy goal for them to accomplish.

Imagine if the aggressiveness and evil attitude of South of Heaven - era Slayer were combined with the modern Melodeath style of bands like Destroy Destroy Destroy and the technical and Jazz tendencies of Atheist. Now, throw in some Metalcore-style harsh vocals and the occasional Deathcore breakdown. This is Revocation in a nutshell. As is expected from a Relapse band, production is on a professional level; The drums are incredibly punchy, making for some killer double bass drives, and the guitars are very heavy and clear sounding, though the bass is almost non-existent; the overly loud vocals don't help either. The unfitting vocals are really my only complaint here, but unfortunately it’s a rather large one. Hardly anything frustrates me more than a vocalist whose harsh singing style has no place in the musician’s genre of choice. The aforementioned Deathcore bits are, surprisingly, not too bad, but I’m still thankful there’s only two breakdowns in total on the album (On the title track and Anthem Of The Betrayed). Pig squeals will get you nowhere in my world.

But overpowering the droll moments is a whole world of good; On Existence Is Futile, you’ll find an endless barrage of riffs and solos that will please most (Though not all) Thrash fans. The solos here are truly some of the best I’ve heard from any band in a long time; they’re a fusion of traditional Metal, Jazz, and Blues solos that sound obscure yet very professionally performed and entertaining, and they show up on most songs.

A wide variety of sounds are found on Existence Is Futile, and together they make for a thoroughly entertaining record. Tracks like Pestilence Reigns, Reanimaniac and seven-minute closer The Tragedy of Modern Ages are riff-churning machines, while songs The Brain Scramblers and Dismantle The Dictator show a more experimental, jazz-infused, technical side of the trio. Other tracks lean more towards straightforward Death Metal, such as the title track and Leviathan Awaits. Add in two very well done instrumentals, Enter The Hall and Across Forests And Fjords (The latter portion of The Tragedy Of Modern Ages) is essentially an instrumental in itself, as well), and we have a very well rounded, diverse mix of sounds that Revocation can only infuse together and improve upon in the future. Anthem Of The Betrayed and Deathonomics (You aren’t playing for Dethklok, guys) are the only two filler tracks on Existence Is Futile, with weak riffs that fall utterly flat, but look past these and you have nine great tracks to listen to and love.

If it weren’t for the bad vocals and filler moments, Existence Is Futile could be the album that cemented Revocation as one of the best and most original bands of the Thrash revival scene. Rather, what this record shows is that the band is a strong up-and-comer that has SO much potential. If they can utilize and improve upon their strong points (Aggressive riffs, amazing solos, Death and Jazz elements) and knock out the weak parts (Guys, get a new vocalist!), then Revocation is poised to make a follow-up to Existence Is Futile that could very well be a future Thrash classic.

Killing Songs :
All except Deathonomics and Anthem Of The Betrayed
Kyle quoted 80 / 100
Other albums by Revocation that we have reviewed:
Revocation - Revocation reviewed by Charles and quoted 75 / 100
Revocation - Chaos Of Forms reviewed by Charles and quoted 88 / 100
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